Folks are always saying something to the effect of 'test your mags before putting them away'.  So, how do you test your magazines to the point that you're satisfied they will work in a life-or-death situation?  My test protocols are pretty half-assed and I'm curious about how others handle this issue.

some say like 100-200 rds through a magazine

I use it twice if it works 100% then Im Kool with it?

take them out and shoot'em.  Also inspect them for cracks , body / weld separations, and feed lips.  Also take them apart once in awhile and wipe down the inside. I don't oil anything.

load to full capaity and shoot them til empty 3x, mark it as a safe queen and then don't touch them again until it is time to rotate it out.

I've been curious what the offical military policy is.  Never seen anything in a TM or FM.  I've seen brand new mags handed out in the combat zone and loaded up.  Maybe the bad mags get weeded out at the range prior to deployment, but I would be curious if there is an actual policy and what publication describes it.  Where I was stationed in 2003 (Camp Warhorse) we had no range.

Quoted: how do you test your magazines to the point that you're satisfied they will work in a life-or-death situation?  .

1. Check that each magazine fits into and drops free from the magwell of every lower i own.
2. Load with 28 rounds and test fire in every AR i own.

I own 10-ARs so testing a new make requires 280 rounds of ammo.

Any magazine that doesnt drop free or has a fail to feed from any AR gets rejected.

As a scout Plt Sgt I passed out new mags, we loaded them, shot them, if they didn't work we drove over them with a track, I turned the bodies in, drew new mags, loaded them, shot them, when they didn't work I drove over them with a track, etc.  I never ever worried about it.

test each mag for drop free in all of my AR's
do 1-2 30 round mag dumps(by dumps i mean shoot them durring training, not bump fire it)

before i even use good ammo on a mag i will use a wooden ruler to make sure the follower traverses the body without hangupalso visualy inspect the spot welds

Quoted: As a scout Plt Sgt I passed out new mags, we loaded them, shot them, if they didn't work we drove over them with a track, I turned the bodies in, drew new mags, loaded them, shot them, when they didn't work I drove over them with a track, etc.  I never ever worried about it.

Crushing bad mags is a great idea....keeps the supply guys from saving a buck by re-issuing to someone else.

Best,
Hotgun

Get 50 dummy rounds made up and load and eject 'til you turn blue. It's fun slinging those dummies all over the room. You can do this on any auto loader and I recommend it. Never had a mag to work like that then fail at the range, and it can save you a lot of time and trouble, not to mention money at the price of ammo today. This also checks the whole loading, extracting and ejecting cycle of the weapon. It is absolutely not recommended to do this with live rounds except at the range with the muzzle controlled and in a safe direction. Never load live rounds if you are not prepared for a discharge.
After this static testing, take the good mags to the range and proof them under live fire. Mark all proofed mags accordingly and you should be good to go.
I have never found a G.I. mag that didn't work, but there are some magazines that should never have been made. The Mini-14 and Mini-30 are nice rifles, but factory hi-caps are non-existant. The junk mags that are sold for these almost never work, although when I had a Mini-30 I put in many long hours tweaking them. You find  lot of junk mags for the 1911 pistol, too, some of them marked 'Colt' but obviously copies. Some Colt cpoies, like the seven-rounders with Rampant Colt and a 'C', actually do work and are usually around $10 at the show.

I just run one or two full loads thru them and they go right into the box with the rest.

I don't down load my mags at all, but I may start if I start to really need them! None of the 81 mags I own give me any problems at all. It cost a fortune to test them all!

load several up with however many rounds you prefer, some load 30 some load 29, whatever you normally load.  set them on a table or bench out on the range,
lay your rifle on the bench facing downrange, mty, bolt, charging handling forword.  get a timer, set it for random, hit the timer, when it goes off, grab a mag, load it, charge the handle, fire two rounds down range as fast as you can. Do this for all your mags, several times, make sure you are loading them to your normal capacity inbetween tests.  you will quickly find some don't always strip the first round, some work better with 29 rounds, some don't slide in as smoothly, some never pick up the first round, those would be the questionable ones, cull through them and keep the ones you know work....and at your next match you'll know how many rounds your mags work best loaded to, and your reloading time will improve considerabley....and when you have a stage where you start with an unloaded rifle on a table, will you be ready!!!!

Quoted: ...you will quickly find some don't always strip the first round...

common magazine caused malfuntion. I scrap a bunch of mags for this reason.

I always test my mags first with the ruler test, then load them up and shoot them.  I have found on occasion a burr that was left on the inside of the mag causing the follower to bind.  Make sure they function smoothly first, then take them to the range.